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While the beautiful essentials of gardening never change, the specific, cuttingedge ways we tap into them are always shifting. When savvy gardeners put a new spin on an established idea, we get all kinds of fascinating new trends in the gardening world.

Whether edible containers or miniature gardening, gardeners can experiment widely within a trend knowing that there's an overall philosophy to guide them.

I see enough trends come and go that I get a good sense of what we can expect the next big thing to be. Here are my picks for the top trends to watch for this season.

EDIBLES IN CONTAINERS

The days of hiding the vegetable garden in the backyard are over. In 2014, gardeners across Canada will declare that homegrown vegetable, fruit, and herb plants are as gorgeous as any flowering annual, and they will edibleup their front-yard patio pots to prove it.

Edible-plant breeders are tripping over themselves to get the newest and best container-optimized cucumber, pepper, eggplant, or tomato into your pots. Expect varieties that are more compact, produce an insane amount of fruit in proportion to the

plant size, and cost more than old-school varieties (although the extra yield pays for itself).

We're all used to browsing directions for creating beautiful flowering containers. Now you can find all kinds of similar guidelines for edibles-only containers online and in glossy gardening magazines. You'll learn to plant themed containers for making salsa, Thai food, or fantastic and flavourful salads.

Because many heat-loving edibles - such as tomatoes, cucumbers and figs - prefer the warm roots that containers offer, you'll enjoy higher yields in pots than in the ground. The smaller growing spaces will make for tiny, very frequent harvests (like cutting just enough salad greens for tonight's dinner), instead of having nothing until the September deluge as you would in a traditional garden.

PURPOSEFUL GARDENING

We're all familiar with organic and bee-friendly gardening. This year, conscientious Canadians are going to push that movement further into what's known as "purposeful gardening."

Gardeners are taking the white gloves off and getting addicted to dirt. We're understanding how gardening connects us with nature's hidden rhythms in a profound way. Purposeful gardening arises from the exciting maturation of that understanding.

The goal is create a garden spot that offers sustainable habitats, healthy edibles and a strong connection with nature. Going chemical-free is a must here, as is using native species to attract bees and other pollinators.

Unlike container-grown edibles, the edible varieties found in purposeful gardens tend to be organic or heirloom, the former for health reasons and the latter, usually, to keep the seed. While container veggies move toward the pretty, compact end of the spectrum, heirloom vegetables are unabashedly big, shaggy, habitable ecosystems all to themselves.

MINIATURE GARDENING

Nope, it's not just about fairies anymore. Miniature gardening has evolved to a fresh, creative medium where anything goes.

From dinosaurs to aquariums to hobbits, experimentation in mini-gardening themes rules the day.

Most large garden centres will now offer some kind of miniature gardening section (although many of them are still hung up on fairies). Often it will be a smattering of under-sized plants, but sometimes you'll find both living and non-living accessories that are almost criminally cute.

If you're just starting out and want to catch up with this creative trend, look for the ever-expanding selection of workshops you can take, both at garden centres and through courses and online tutorials.

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